As promised, today I'm bringing you my 'new' discovery, made possible by my brother-in-law, the Mighty Hunter. I had made chicken broth and beef broth before, but had never considered bone broth from deer. If you butcher an animal yourself, you get extra perks like carcasses full of bones. Yay!

Back in the day, people didn’t have capsules and powders to keep them healthy. Everything came from plants and animals. Each part was up for grabs; leaves, fruits, seeds, nuts, bark and roots… skins, hoofs, brains, and eyeballs. These “weird” items contributed macro and micro nutrients- everything we needed for good health. Instead of discarding our deer carcass, I saved the bones and made a nice gelatin-rich broth. Bone broth is super-super healthy for you and easy to make. It’s great for your bones and teeth, skin, hair and nails. This is how I made mine: 1.Put bones in a big stock pot (I used my aluminum pressure canner… probably not the best but better than nothing!). 2.Cover with water. 3.Add some apple cider vinegar (1/4-1/2 cup). This draws out the gelatin. 4.Also add seasonings if desired; onions, carrots, celery, red pepper flakes, ginger, garlic, salt, pepper, etc. 5.Bring to a boil; turn heat down to simmer and let it cook for at least 10 hours- longer is better. That’s it! When it’s done, you’ll have a pot of ugly-looking but very healthy broth, bones, and seasoning veggies. You can get three things out of this pot:

1. Broth: You can strain the liquid into a jar; that takes too long for me, so I just ladle the broth into the jars, trying to keep the bits and pieces out. When you refrigerate it, the broth will gel up and the fat will separate to the top.

2. Fat: I skim off the fat to render and use for other purposes. Would you believe that butter costs over $1 per stick here? I think I’ll use free fat to butter my egg pan in the morning.

3. Bone meat: Meat picked off the bones will have a distinctive taste, unlike chicken or beef broth. I don't really like the taste, so I use the meat in heavily-seasoned soups and sauces.

Happy Monday!

Do you make bone broth? Have you ever eaten weird animal parts like hooves or eyes?